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Hi from Fennville Mi

Been lurking for year now. So it is time to join in. Started keeping bees after finding bees in a wood duck box near my house in the fall of 08. I wintered them in the box with empty hive bodies stacked around the wood duck coop. Gross Wt. of coop and bees 63 LBS. Small but they made it. Fed them in spring of 09, using a water bottle for hamsters, by drilling a hole in the roof over hang so the tip of the bottle was at the top of the box opening. Relocated them into standard hive bodies and frames in May. Bought 2 4lbs packages that spring, recovered 3 swarms from a blue berry farmer, 2 built up well one didn't make it. 2 swarms from the rehived wood duck bees,one did well one failed, then under the advice of a seasoned beek split the wood duck hive. Durning the split culled 10 of 12 capped Queen cells to stop the swarming. Went into winter with seven hives. I had a very busy summer for a first year beek. Dan